Focus Passage: John 15:18-16:4 (NASB)
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25 But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’
26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
16:1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Read John 15:18-16:4 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In our passage for this journal entry, we will focus in on a promise Jesus gives us when we face life. During the last conversation Jesus has with the disciples before being arrested, Jesus promises to have God send us the “Helper” who is also known as the “Spirit of Truth”.
In verses 26-27 we read, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
Here we have a clue as to why we will be hated, and also about what we are called to do.
We will be hated because God sends us the Spirit of Truth, and people who prefer to live with lies really dislike the presence of truth. This would be similar to someone who has lived in a cave with no light for years finding the entrance and being blinded by daylight. They would much rather go back to the cave, even if it is not best for them.
We are to share with others about Jesus, because that is the truth that God’s Spirit of Truth shares with us. God has pointed us to Jesus, and Jesus points us to God (the Father), and the mission we receive from God’s Spirit is to point people to Jesus, working alongside God’s Spirit who is also working on the hearts and lives of those we meet.
According to this passage, sharing Jesus with others is one of our highest callings, and it is one we will be hated for doing. Jesus was hated, we will be hated too. Are you up for the challenge?
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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